超越与自由——儒家超越观念的自由人性意蕴

Transcendence and Freedom——Human Nature of Freedom in the Confucian Concept of Transcendence

"超越"问题与"自由"问题密切相关,不仅在于两者基本语义的契合性以及基本特征的对应性,而且在于自由的实质就是人的主体性超越,即不断地超越旧主体性,获得新主体性。从儒家立场看,自由作为一种超越,是以"天命之性"为根本趋向,但由于"天命靡常","天命之性"总是与时俱进地体现为一种"时代主体性",因而人的自由逐次呈现出宗族自由、家族自由、个体自由等不同的历史形态。这实质已开显出自由人性的意蕴,即人一方面具有"自由的天性",即主体性超越的趋向;另一方面具有"自由的习性",即基于当下生活方式而获取主体性超越的内容。据此而言,人性并不能以先天的善恶等现成的规定性来概括,而只能说人性就是作为超越的自由本身,也即"自由人性"。

Transcendence discussed in scholar at present is closely related with freedom. Both of them have the correspondences in their basic meanings of words and the essential features. The essential content of freedom is to transcend a subjectivity of oneself, that is to break away from a past subjectivity of oneself and to acquire a new subjectivity of oneself. Because in a different era, human tend different subjectivities, and freedom takes on different forms successively: clan family freedom, patriarchal family freedom and individual freedom. The course and trend of transcending unceasingly mean that everyone has natural instincts of freedom and habitual nature of freedom, so human nature is not defined with any specific prototype, which always keeps open and has endless possibilities, and in the other words, freedom as transcending in itself. It is the only substance of human nature. Thus, it could be called “Human Nature of Freedom”.